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MARVEL COMICS: Marvel Action Universe (Fantastic Four)
MARVEL COMICS IN THE MEDIA MARVEL ANIMATIED MULTIVERSE 1990'S MARVEL ANIMATED UNIVERSE FANTASTIC FOUR Fantastic Four, also known as Fantastic Four: The Animated Series, is the third animated television series based on Marvel's comic book series of the same name. Airing began on September 24, 1994, until ending on February 24, 1996. The series ran for 2 seasons, with 13 episodes per season, making 26 episodes in total OPENING OVERVIEW SEASON 1 The vast majority of episodes in the first season consisted of fairly accurate re-tellings and re-interpretations of classic 1960s FF comic book stories by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. For instance, this series stayed true to the original comic book story that recounted the Silver Surfer and Galactus' coming to Earth in a two-part episode as well as Doctor Doom's theft of Surfer's powers. But the season's cost-effective animation (provided by Wang Film Productions and Kennedy Cartoons) and attempts to add humor through the inclusion of a fussy British landlady (portrayed by Stan Lee's wife Joan) for the FF were generally met with displeasure by fans - to say nothing of then-current FF comic book writer Tom DeFalco, who got in trouble for penning a scene in issue #396 of the series that featured Ant-Man watching and lambasting an episode of the cartoon. In "The Origin of the Fantastic Four", Puppet Master took control of the Thing and used him to capture Invisible Woman. Mister Fantastic freed the Thing from his control and defeated the Puppet Master. Upon returning to his apartment to reclaim his final doll, he ended up in a fight with Alicia Masters, and then he apparently fell to his death from the apartment window. The Fantastic Four weren't able to find his body and claimed that he "vanished from Earth." In "The Silver Surfer & the Coming of Galactus", the Silver Surfer, Firelord, and Terrax fight the Fantastic Four while Galactus attempts to feed on Earth. By Season 2 however, all but the presence of Silver Surfer in that battle is ignored as Terrax is seen again and referred to as being the replacement for the Silver Surfer. In the episode "When Calls Galactus", Terrax is killed/turned into a worm and Nova (Frankie Raye) becomes the new herald of Galatcus. In "Mask of Doom", Doctor Doom captured the Fantastic Four and forced Mister Fantastic, Human Torch, and the Thing to go back in time and obtain an object for him. In the aforementioned episode "Silver Surfer and the Return of Galactus", Doom steals the Silver Surfer's powers and tries to steal Galactus' powers, only to be thwarted by the planet devourer himself. OVERVIEW SEASON 2 Both the Fantastic Four and Iron Man series were radically retooled for the second seasons, sporting new opening sequences, improved animation (as previously mentioned, the animation for the first season was done by Wang Film Productions and Kennedy Cartoons, while the second season's animation was provided by Philippine Animation Studio, Inc.), and more mature writing (the first season was primarily written by Ron Friedman, while the second season was overseen by Tom Tataranowicz), though noticeably having fewer introductions by Stan Lee, with several of the new shorter intros being used more than once. Not only that, Four Freedoms Plaza replaced the Baxter Building as the Fantastic Four's home base in Season 2. The Season 2 episodes also drew upon John Byrne’s 1980s run on the Fantastic Four comic (as well as John Buscema's artwork), in addition to further Lee and Kirby adventures. In the season premiere episode "And a Blind Man Shall Lead Them" (guest starring Daredevil), Doctor Doom struck at a powerless FF and had his hand crushed by the Thing. Doom would next appear in "Nightmare in Green", where he directed the Hulk to attack the team. The Wizard appeared in the episode "And the Wind Cries Medusa" (the first part of the three part "Inhumans Saga"). In his appearance, he assembled Medusa, Hydro-Man (on a related note, this episode aired one week from Hydro-Man's debut appearance in Spider-Man), and Trapster to form the Frightful Four. Wizard also used a device to control the Thing. Meanwhile, Crystal, along with the other Inhumans, also made their debut in the three-part "Inhumans Saga" episode. After escaping the Negative Barrier, Crystal went on to become the girlfriend of the Human Torch. Seeker appears in the episode "Inhumans Saga: Beware the Hidden Land". He was sent by Maximus the Mad to retrieve the Inhuman Royal Family. After saving the Fantastic Four from the explosion, Seeker briefly shared the history of the Inhumans to them before dropping them off somewhere. Susan Richards as Malice appeared in the episode "Worlds Within Worlds". Malice's appearance was the result of Psycho-Man using his powers to make Susan turn against her Fantastic Four teammates. Eventually, Susan was freed of Psycho-Man's influence and defeated him. The Black Panther appears in the "Prey of the Black Panther". He lures the Fantastic Four to Wakanda to see if they are worthy enough to help fight Klaw. Like the comics, Klaw's history of killing T'Chaka is included as well as T'Challa using Klaw's own weapon on his right hand. In "To Battle the Living Planet," the Fantastic Four ask Galactus' help in confronting Ego the Living Planet. Thor meanwhile guest stars in two episodes. In "To Battle the Living Planet," the Fantastic Four help him fight Ego the Living Planet. In "When Comes Galactus," he and Ghost Rider (he used the penance stare so it is more likely it is the Daniel Ketch version) both help the Fantastic Four fight Galactus. Also in "When Calls Galactus", Nova (as previously mentioned) volunteers to replace the treacherous Terrax as Galactus' herald. Like the comics, Frankie Raye ends up getting her powers when she accidentally got doused in the chemicals that gave the android Human Torch his powers. Franklin Storm appeared in the episode "Behold, A Distant Star". Just like the comics, Franklin Storm lost his wife in an accident and an altercation with a loan shark led to an accidental murder. When Invisible Woman had a shrapnel in the lower part of her brain after a recent Skrull attack (Lyja by the way, is shown as a commander to the Skrull army), he had to come out of hiding to perform the surgery. He turned himself over to the arriving cops. After being freed from his volcanic prison, Super-Skrull replaced him in prison and took on the guise of the Invincible Man who broke out of prison and went on a rampage on the city and ran afoul of the Fantastic Four. They soon realize that Franklin Storm is Super-Skrull in disguise. Warlord Morrat had a concussive energy beam projector attached to Dr. Storm's chest. The projector was set to go off the moment he saw the Fantastic Four. When Storm appeared, he warned the Fantastic Four to stay away and rolled over on the floor, taking the full force of the deadly concussive blast on himself. In "Hopelessly Impossible", Lockjaw (who had previously appeared on the "Inhumans Saga") helps the Human Torch get the Impossible Man to The Great Refuge and away from the Super-Skrull. In what turned out to be the series finale, "Doomsday", Doctor Doom acquired the Power Cosmic. He once again tries to go after Galactus only to hit the barrier that prevents the Silver Surfer from leaving Earth. PROPOSED SEASON 3 According to Season 2 supervising producer Tom Tataranowicz, had there had been a third season of Fantastic Four, he would've wanted to go into the whole Sue Storm pregnancy story arc. In Tataranowicz's eyes, this would've given the production crew a chance to do their own take on the Sub-Mariner (who only appeared in Season 1), as he played into the arc in FF issues leading up to and around issue #100. Tataranowicz also wanted to bring Medusa and She-Hulk into the mix as part of the Fantastic Four. CROSS-OVERS Category:Comic Books in the Media Category:Marvel Comics Category:Fantastic Four Category:Reed Richards - Mr. Fantastic Category:Sue Storm - Invisible Woman Category:Ben Grimm - The Thing Category:Johnny Storm - Human Torch Category:Victor Von Doom - Dr. Doom Category:Silver Surfer Category:Galactus Category:Hank Pym - Ant-Man Category:Puppet Master Category:Alicia Masters Category:Firelord Category:Terrax Category:Nova Frankie Raye Category:Inhumans Category:Daredevil Category:Wizard Category:Frightful Four Category:Hydro-Man Category:Medusa (Inhumans) Category:Trapster Category:Crystal (Inhumans) Category:Maximux the Mad (Inhumans) Category:Malice Category:Psycho-Man Category:Klaw Category:Ego the Living Planet Category:Thor Category:Ghost Rider Category:Ghost Rider Danny Ketch Category:Super-Skrull Category:Lockjaw (Inhumans) Category:Impossible Man Category:Spider-Man Category:Secret Wars Category:Ant-Man Hank Pym Category:1990'S Marvel Animated Universe Category:Dr. Bruce Banner - Hulk Category:Black Bolt (Inhumans) Category:Gorgon (Inhumans) Category:Karnak (Inhumans) Category:T'Challa - Black Panther